Rumor Patrol: Marvel Studios Interested in Zac Efron

Remember all those rumors about Zac Efron being cast in Star Wars: Episode VII? Well, he wasn’t. That doesn’t mean he won’t be joining a massive Disney-owned film franchise again though. Eventually. From the Disney Channel to… Marvel Studios? That is, if the latest rumor about the star of Neighbors pans out.

LR has the exclusive on a question for you, built on word they have that Marvel Studios has sent an unidentified script to Zac Efron to read. We don’t know what project this is for, but given the problem with rumors about Marvel casting and particular, rumors about Efron joining massive franchises, we’re going to not take this as news, but as a discussion on what lead role Marvel will attempt to cast next. Even if he does have a script, he’s not signed for anything.

With what Captain America: The Winter Soldier did to S.H.I.E.L.D., what Guardians of the Galaxy will do for the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what the four Marvel Netflix programs will do for a few key heroes from Hell’s Kitchen, New York, and what The Avengers: Age of Ultron will do to the franchise’s top heroes, everything is changing and we’re about to meet plenty of new faces.

While there are a several unannounced films scheduled for 2016 and beyond for the studio, there are a few upcoming confirmed projects that have yet to be cast. This includes Daredevil which is the first of the Marvel Netflix programs airing next year that begins shooting in July; Doctor Strange which sounds like a lock for summer 2016 (although not official) and Captain America 3 which was announced for May 2016. The latter two could both shoot next year alongside several of the Netflix shows. There’s also Ant-Man which undoubtedly has a lot of roles still be cast. All of these of course, take place in the same shared universe, so characters from the Netflix series could pop up in future movies.

If Zac Efron is being looked at for a part in the franchise, it’s for a big role. We can’t picture him as Doctor Strange due to his age, but playing Matt Murdock in a Netflix series about Daredevil is definitely feasible. The same can be said about Danny Rand aka Iron Fist. There’s also the chance that the studio is already planning spinoffs for Guardians of the Galaxy and that, if true, blows the doors wide open on possibilities, ranging from Wendell Vaughn aka Quasar, Richard Rider aka Nova (or the younger Sam Alexander Nova) to Adam Warlock – a key element of any story involving big bad villain Thanos who’s going to be a big part of the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Guardians of the Galaxy deep into post-production, there’s always the possibility a new character could be introduced in shot-at-the-last-minute button scene to play during the credits.

We don’t know if Efron is really a contender for a Marvel Studios role, but our own Kofi Outlaw suggested it to him while talking with Efron and his cast mates in That Awkward Moment – the other two (Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller) of course, landed lead roles in the Fantastic Four reboot.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is now in theaters, Guardians of the Galaxy opens August 1, 2014, The Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1, 2015, Ant-Man on July 17, 2015, Captain America 3 on May 6 2016, and unannounced films for July 8 2016 and May 5 2017.